15. Homage To Norman Rockwell Painting (Spider-Man)
Surely one of the most obscure and left-field references in the Spider-Man franchise is to Norman Rockwell's famous 1943 painting Freedom from Want. During Spider-Man's thanksgiving scene, Aunt May places the plump, juicy turkey on the table in front of Norman Osborne (who shares Rockwell's first name, no less), and the framing and blocking of the scene is practically identical to the painting. Though we don't see the other dinner guests in this shot, Raimi later pans out to give us a similar image including all of the dinner guests: Peter, Harry and Mary-Jane. To those not familiar with the painting, it might seem like a reach, though Raimi's careful composition suggests that this was very much intentional.